Hidden Power
My friend Gary Haller tells the story of Filmore Street Presbyterian Church in Corinth, Mississippi. The church had been on Filmore Street since the early 1800's and had a rich history, but times had changes, the neighborhood had changed, the congregation dwindled and in the mid-1960's they decided to close. But before they did, they had a "clean out the closet" day when members could come and take hymnals or bibles or other keepsakes as a remembrance of the congregation. As they were cleaning out all the old storage areas, they found a cranny behind one of the basement closets that no one seemed to know was there. When the opened it they found a storage area under the basement which was filled with Confederate ordinances--bombs, ammunition, shell casings, bullets and cannon balls. It seems that during the Battle of Shiloh the Confederate troops had used the basement of the church as an ordnance depot and for over 100 years, the people of Fillmore Street Presbyterian Church had been singing and praying and breaking bread over enough ammo to blow up the whole town but they didn't know it.
I don't expect that in tearing up the fellowship hall we are going to find any hidden ammo, but it is a pretty good illustration after all. Here we are, gathering week after week, month after month, year after year with the explosive power of the Holy Spirit within our reach and all too often we don't even realize it. Here we are, the Church of Pentecost, the Church of the Book of Acts, the Church of Jesus Christ, with enough talent and energy and resources to blow up this town and sometimes we don't even seem to realize it is there, available to us. But if we dig deep enough, we will find that it's still there--the power of God's spirit at work in us.
This is a great time to be part of this great church. As we tear up and blow out the fellowship hall and main entry, may we rediscover the power available to us...sometimes hidden, but still there, just waiting for the fuse to be lit.
On Sunday, I hope you will be present to hear Taylor Mertins preach the last of the sermons on the Book of Acts. Come and be ready to be set on fire.
Ka-boom!
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